From Irving Penn’s creative Vogue covers to the surrealist portraits of modern-day provocateur David LaChapelle, fashion and photography are two mediums that have long gone hand in hand.

This autumn, Giorgio Armani is presenting the work of one of his favourite photographers, the British-French artist Sarah Moon, at the designer’s industrial exhibition space Armani/Silos in the heart of Milan. The exhibition, From One Season to Another, has been curated by Moon herself and spans four decades of the artist’s career, from the mid-1970s up to recent campaign images shot for the Armani 2018 collection.

Moon’s work has an ethereal quality, with many images deliberately shot out of focus and blown up in domineeringly large format. A former model in Swinging Sixties Paris, Moon began experimenting with photography in the early 70s, working with eminent fashion brands and magazines including Biba, Chanel and Vogue – even becoming the first woman to shoot the iconic Pirelli calendar – before going on to develop a more personal, artistic side of her craft in the mid-80s. Moon’s work explores themes of the fragility of beauty and the passing of time – the latter of which inspired the title of the current exhibition.

The retrospective features more than 170 photographs, including Moon’s most iconic images alongside lesser-known black and white photographs of animals, flowers and industrial buildings.

‘I chose to expose a mix of abstract fashion images and less known photographs,’ explains Moon. ‘I thank Giorgio Armani for his invitation and the freedom he gave me in this exhibition. I have always appreciated his timeless couture. We both enjoy the challenge of doing more, with less, and of working with or without colour.’

From One Season to Another by Sarah Moon runs until 6 January 2019; armani.com